Lemon in her Hair
by HecateA
Summary: When prophecies match on both sides of the countries, when the past screams out to the present, and when an old curse comes lose, two old acquaintances will meet after years of separation. And all because of a girl's hair and the weather... Oneshot.


**So I've looked around but have yet to find a PJO/Caster Chronicles crossover. Hopefully this one will be okay even if I don't have any idea what I'm doing.**

**Let's pretend that Genevieve and Ethan never made an appearance in blood and flesh/spirit in the Caster Chronicles, shall we? Let's also remember that my copy of Beautiful Redemption is out on loan and that the Caster Wiki page on book four _sucks_ so I may be incorrect about something. Let us also remember that I am to be forgiven for that? (Maybe.)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the worlds of Percy Jackson and the Olympians or of the Caster Chronicles. **

**Dedication: to Wierdo4 who has been waiting, asking and downright begging for this for a long time. And no, I did not put off this story's publication for the whole day just to assume myself as a troll. Good job on waiting until your birthday for it, I hope it's everything you were expecting in this story because you're everything anyone could expect in a fellow conspirator, theorist, fanboy and friend.  
**

* * *

**Lemon in her Hair**

_December _

"Macon," Delphine breathed reaching out randomly for his hand.

"Del, I'm right here," Macon said squeezing her fingers.

"My powers…" Delphine said in a weak voice. The hospital equipment beeped and squeaked all around them, as if they were in a strange jungle of birds and monkeys. Or at least that image made Macon feel better about why he was in the hospital in the first place. He gulped before answering.

"It's not rare in the dying process for them to…"

"No," she said. "Macon, my powers are… _changing…"_

"Del," he said holding onto her hands. "Explain."

"I don't see… the past and the… not in images."

"Not in images?" Macon said. Delphine was hallucinating, she was dying, tonight was the night after all. He should rush to find a doctor, call Barklay, hell- call _Ridley _if need be.

"Clearly… Clearly the future…" Delphine said. "I see the future in words."

She coughed and coughed and coughed, which wasn't rare since her cancer had metastasized to her lungs.

Her voice was sharp as a piece of glass and as hoarse as nails on a chalkboard. It scared Macon- he'd never seen anything quite like it.

_"The smell of lemon in her hair_

_The scent of smoke has cleared the air_

_The antidote springs from the poison_

_Found by the sea where the sky is frozen."_

"Okay Delphine, alright. I understand. Please, settle." Macon said pushing her shoulder gently into her pillows.

He was mistaken about one thing: Delphine was dying and blabbing nonsense in the stress of the moment. But Macon was right about another: tonight was the night that his sister passed away.

* * *

_April_

Ethan cursed himself.

_Dammit__. _He was actually humming along to the music blasting through the Beater- one of Link's solo monstrosities. Worst- he was tapping his hand to the steering wheel in rhythm.

He shook his head and pulled up to Ravenwood to pick up Lena for school. He was heading straight for the gates when suddenly the car flipped backwards.

* * *

"I'm fine, I'm fine, I'm fine." Ethan said shaking his head.

"Thanks to me!" Ryan smiled brightly.

"Yeah, you did good kiddo," Ethan said ruffling the little healer's hair. She grinned even more brightly.

Lena eyed Ethan suspiciously. She grabbed his arm and checked for blood –which was all dry-, or bruises –which were all healed. She let his arm down.

"What on earth happened?" Lena asked, brushing dirt off her skirt. That was rather pointless; they were sitting outside the gate of Ravenwood Manor, a few feet from where the beater had crashed and thrown Ethan out.

"I don't know," Ethan said.

"Your driving skills are zero if you can't drive down an even road in broad daylight without doing back flips " Ridley commented. She was sucking on a lollipop and grinning at him so that he _knew _that she was never going to let this go. By osmosis, nor would Link.

Besides, he may have just cost the beater its long, hard life. The Beater was Link's Plan A for the apocalypse. If something happened to it, Ethan would get killed.

"It wasn't me," Ethan said. "I'm telling you, I didn't lose control. The car… It was as if the beater _hit _something."

"Hit what? There isn't anything out there, Ethan." Lena said running her fingers through his hair. Now she was probably worried that he was concussed.

Thankfully Reece came back and assured him that the car had been restored via what she called a very simple cast. She was also so kind as to advise him that if she'd been in his place, she'd have been glad to see it gone. Ethan ignored that last part.

"Come on," Lena said putting an arm around him. "We should go inside- you can have a drink, and Macon can make sure you really are okay."

Ethan didn't fight with her or mention school. He got up and Lena laced his fingers with his as they walked back to Ravenwood. Ethan hit an invisible wall a few feet away from the gate, and his immobility made Lena trip as she kept going.

_Ethan?_ She kelted, frowning.

"I can't go any further, L," he said. "I can't get closer to Ravenwood."

* * *

They were meeting at the Library. Marian was looking through some notes of hers to try and find a logical reason for what had happened, much like Liv had. Macon sat on a library table, fingers laced, deep in thought. Ethan was ready to bet that Macon already knew, or at least had a pretty good idea, of what was going on. But the only thing that Ethan could think of was _please don't be another dark caster seeking our blood._

"Uncle Macon?" Lena asked. "What's happening?"

Macon took a while to reply.

"House is specially enchanted to repel intruders, correct?"

"Yes," Lena said. "And you put extra casts over it when they're needed."

"That I do," Macon said.

"Also the sky is blue," Ethan put in.

Macon shot him a look. "Point being, if there's an intruder, House reacts. It keeps it out."

"I'm not an intruder," Ethan said. The pulsing in the back of his head where he'd hit it agreed with him on that point. "I've been in Ravenwood plenty of times before."

"Yes, but there were bigger threats on the loose now weren't there?" Macon said. "Sarafine, Abraham…"

"How did Ethan become a threat even if all the bigger ones are gone?" Lena said. "It doesn't make any sense."

"Josephine, I thought I'd taught you your history better," Macon said clucking his tongue. "Honestly… When is the last time that the Wates and the Ducchanes crossed? Ethan, even you should know this one."

"Ethan and Genevieve," Lena said.

"Correct," Macon nodded. "And how did that end?"

"Poorly," Ethan said.

"'The mouth obeys poorly when the heart whispers'," Marian said.

"Fitzgerald?" Ethan ventured.

"Voltaire," Marian said. "Looks like Lena isn't the only one slipping, here."

"Genevieve Ducchanes also happens to be one of the Casters who helped the Ravenwood family cast the protective casts on their land," Macon said. "The very land that House is built on, actually. Because of Genevieve's unfortunate , ah, experience; I think that House is now turned against the Wate lineage."

"That's ridiculous!" Lena exlaimed.

"Expect your next meal to be of very poor taste for that comment," Macon said gravely.

"No but it is!" Lena said defensively. "Ethan wouldn't hurt me. That's crystal clear to _strangers." _

_"_And what do you think Ethan Carter and Genevieve thought?" Macon said.

"We're different," Ethan said. He was blushing in spite of himself. "We've solved the magical/not-magical problem."

"Are you going to try to reason with an old, old cast Ethan?" Macon said.

"No, but I'd sure like to be able to pick up my girlfriend for school without getting tossed into a ditch." Ethan said.

"Oh, I think that soon you won't even be able to go to school," Macon said. "Protective casts are designed for longevity; naturally, considering the disastrous consequences of them fading away. If the cast is violated or threatened, which the particular cast Genevieve put on the property will if Ethan keeps coming close to Ravenwood Manor or maybe even Lena in general, they spread and strengthen."

"What?" Ethan said. "Spread how?"

"There are two ways from my calculations, research and vast experience on the subject," Macon said. "Either Ethan will get maimed see killed after a while; or the more likely option is that the cast will spread and push Ethan further and further away from Ravenwood. Maybe even out of Gatlin, at some point. State, country, continent… Really, knowing the bounds would only come with time."

"No," Ethan said shaking his head adamantly. "No way am I, no, that can't happen."

"There has to be a way to stop that from happening," Lena said grabbing Ethan's hand.

"Well, in the short term we can keep you two separate. Drive out of the county if you are to spend time together. We can arrange with the school to transfer one of you out of classes you share."

"I think that they are more interested in the long-term," Marian said softly.

They all turned expectantly at Macon.

"Before your Aunt passed away last Winter," Macon said carefully, "She delivered… I'm not sure what to call it… an omen, perhaps?"

"A prophecy," Marian suggested.

"A prophecy, I suppose," he nodded. Marian had an uncanny gift for reminding people of the word on the tip of their tongues or finding the word that should be there. "Four short lines that rhymed. I brushed it off as confused babble earlier, but now I am forced to wonder…"

"What were the lines?" Lena asked.

_"The smell of lemon in her hair_

_The scent of smoke has cleared the air_

_The antidote springs from the poison_

_Found by the sea where the sky is frozen."_

"We smelled lemon every time we were near Genevieve in the visions," Ethan said.

"Lemon and rosemary," Lena nodded. "And Greenbrier went up in flames, right? That explains the line about smoke."

"Okay, so it's about Genevieve… But how does this connect to us? It doesn't make sense." Ethan said shaking his head.

"The antidote springs from the poison- use all the clues you have to guess, EW," Marian said.

"We need to find Genevieve to fix this problem," Lena said.

"_Now _you're the only one slipping, Ethan." Marian said poking him in the ribs.

"But I don't understand the last line," Lena said rubbing the back of her head. "'Where the sky is frozen'? How can a sky be frozen? The sky always changes- there are wind currents, air pressures, electrons and protons in clouds, planes coming through, helicopters, birds, humidity, precipitation…"

"A place without weather?" Ethan frowned.

"By the sea, don't forget the 'by the sea'," Marian said kindly.

"There are a whole lot of seas," Lena said. "Just in the country on its own, that could be a place around California or Alaska or-"

"East," Ethan blurted.

Everyone shot him looks.

"It just feels like the kind of place that would be in the East," Ethan shrugged.

"Alright," Lena said turning back to the adults. "So what, we need to find Genevieve who is at a place without weather on the East coast?"

"Logically, yes," Macon said.

"Logically we shouldn't be able to," Lena said. "She's dead."

"That's the part that you two can discover, I suppose." Marian said quietly.

"Let's go," Ethan said getting to his feet.

"Not so fast," Macon said raising a hand.

"You, young man, have school now- and so does your lovely lady friend." Marian said.

"As if we've _never _missed school before," Lena said.

"If it's not stake-of-the-Order-of-Things, you are not missing school for it." Macon said.

_I don't think that we can weasel out of this one, _Ethan kelted to Lena.

_Nor do I. I think we're going to have to wait this one out... _She answered.

"Besides. I quite like this no-Ethan-and-Lena-in-the-house-together idea," Macon said. "I will gladly exploit it for the time being."

* * *

_July_

"We've got two casters, a wayward, a hybrid, an incubus and an intellect. We'll be fine Uncle Macon." Lena said hugging him.

"I still don't like you lot going through the _lunae libri _on your owns," Macon said.

"I've gotten much better at navigating it, and Ethan can help." Liv said. "Don't worry sir, we'll be fine."

"Remember: don't try to stay down there too long. Listen to Liv's calculations: come July 5th, you're stuck down there until Thanksgiving." Marian said. "Trust me; that would be very unpleasant."

"We'll go as far as we can, resurface as close to the East coast as possible, and then rent a car or whatnot." Lena said patiently repeating the plan everyone had agreed on. That was the best (and only) way to reassure adults.

"Next stop, Maine!" Link cheered.

"We should start with New York," Ridley said pushing her sunglasses up her nose. She was chewing gum obnoxiously loudly.

"We start in Maine," Lena chastised. "Make our way down, and I'll see if I can pick up anything weird in the air- any place where my powers can't work."

"Where the sky is frozen," Liv nodded softly.

Macon sighed. "Well, there's no reason to keep you here any longer. Have a nice trip, I suppose. Stay safe."

* * *

"Have you been in Rhode Island recently?" Annabeth asked Percy as they walked back from a victorious game of Capture-the-Flag together.

"No," Percy said. "I've been here since my Mom dropped us off. Why are you asking?"

"There's been some weird stuff happening with the weather there. Very unusual compared to the state's usual weather."

"So it's automatically my fault?"

"Not inherently, but don't tell me that that was a faulty hypothesis," Annabeth said raising her hands.

* * *

"Turn here!" Lena cried. Link jammed his foot down on the pedal and everyone went flying as far as their seat belts would let them in the van they were renting.

"What the hell was that Lena?" John choked.

"Spidy senses are tingling, cuz?" Ridley asked turning towards them from shotgun. Liv had invited her along because her mother's death in December was hard on her, and because maybe spending a lot of time in a car together would make Ridley and Link figure out what kind of a relationship they were in.

Not only had it failed to do that, but Ridley had decided to become moody and annoying again, as well as picky about motels and sleeping in a van. Of course nobody let her opinion waver what was better for their budget, but she was very loud when she didn't appreciate something.

"Sort of," Lena said patiently looking out the window.

Ethan squeezed her hand as they drove on. Lena gave instructions on where to drive, although the lone dusty roads didn't give much of a choice on where to go.

They passed an add and Liv caught the title.

"Delphi Strawberry Service should be coming up," Liv said. "Not sure when, though. I missed that part."

"Sharpen up blondie," Ridley said.

"Be nice to her," John said defensively.

"Oh my God- be nice to everyone and don't ya'all start fighting back there or else I'm literally going to have a cow." Link said.

"Good Lord, if we're just going to drive aimlessly until we find something we could have stayed in-"

"There," Lena said again to interrupt Ridley. Link spun the wheel but this time nearly everyone caught something in time.

"Park the van," Lena instructed again. Link parked at the bottom of a tall hill. Lena pushed the door open and jumped out. Ethan ran out after her and the others piled out of the car too.

"Genevieve never hit me as the farming type," Link said.

"L, this might be private property." Ethan reminded her.

"No it's not," Ridley said.

"How do you know?" John asked.

"Private properties don't have dragons. Private properties have _gates." _

* * *

Percy and Annabeth were walking around, minding their own business which was disaster's preferred time for striking.

Peleus usually liked to sleep around this time of the day, which was why they made it a habit to hang around Thalia's tree. Camp and the fleece should be safe after all the trouble they'd put into keeping the world safe, but just in case...

Today, the purple serpentine dragon was raised up and preparing to fight.

Annabeth drew her knife and ran up the hill. Percy was right on her heels, popping Riptide's cap clean off. All the extra weight of the bronze didn't even make his hand waver.

"Peleus, Peleus!" Annabeth said. The dragon was trained to roar if someone was attacking.

When they looked down, they saw a group of six teenagers and a van.

Annabeth was calming down the dragon, whispering in Ancient Greek and singing what he thought was a lullaby. None of the visitors looked dirty or tired or afraid, but Percy checked anyways. Maybe they were Romans.

"Hey," he said.

"Hey? You've got a goddamn dragon hanging around your tree and all you've got to say is 'hey'?" One of the guys, the lankier one, asked. A heavy southern accent weighed down his voice.

"Yeah, well, occupational hazard. Sorry about that, he isn't aggressive unless you're attacking."

"Nobody would attack with that thing there," a blonde girl with an English accent said.

"That's the point," Percy said. "Are you guys envoys from Camp Jupiter? Recruits?"

They stood silent and puzzled, wondering what was going on. Percy could only think _please don't be Egyptians, please don't be Egyptians…_

"What brings you here?" He asked.

"It's a long story," one of the girls said stepping forwards. She had long dark hair and she wore a cluttered necklace with mismatched and random charms. "But we don't mean any harm here. We're just passing by."

"Come on up, we don't bite," Annabeth said kindly. Percy wished that he had that kind of access to kindness when he had to cancel a date because he'd gotten a detention or something.

"Your dragon probably does," another guy muttered.

Percy crossed her eyes.

_"If they're monsters they won't pass," _Annabeth said in Ancient Greek. Percy nodded.

"What are you speaking?" The blond British girl asked coming up. "It sounds like Greek."

"Do you speak Greek?" Annabeth asked.

"No, but I study language as a hobby." Liv said. _Uh oh, Annabeth's making a friend,_ Percy thought. "Not that I have much time for it."

The boy with the dark hair and trained, toned body standing closest to her clucked his tongue, and Percy's heart exploded in sympathy for the guy. How many times had he had a similar reaction when Annabeth presented to him some algorithm she was studying 'for fun'?

"It is Greek," Annabeth said.

"Why?" One of the guys asked.

"Long story," Percy said. "We speak Greek. We are Greek."

"Is that why your buildings are funky, or did you guys just have an earthquake?" The lanky boy said pointing over the hill.

"That is why our buildings respect Hellenic traditions," Annabeth said coldly. "I believe that that's what you are trying to say."

He gulped and nodded. Percy saved the moment by making intros. He tried to keep the names in mind- Ethan, Lena the girl with the necklace, John the one who'd clucked his tongue, Link the one Annabeth now hated since he'd criticised classic architecture, Liv who he would remember because _British Annabeth _from the looks of things, and the girl who seemed to be deaf mute or incredibly shy was Ridley.

"Annabeth," Liv said sounding out the syllables. "I've never heard that before. That's lovely."

"Thank you," Annabeth said. "Well, we can bring you over to our director. He may be able to answer your questions- _other _than the ones about our so-called 'totally badass' dragon."

Link bowed his head under her piercing gaze. Things were off to a splendid start between those two! Percy would have to let Link know that Annabeth was an okay person later on.

* * *

Ethan didn't know what the hell was going on, but he followed Percy and Annabeth and tried not to look everywhere like some kind of tourist or stick out completely. But the fact was- he wasn't some kind of die-hard cosplayer who ran around in Greek armour, or even fought with realistic weapons. He wasn't wearing orange, he wasn't tanned and burned by the sun or wind. So yes, he did stick out a lot.

_Is this the place? _Ethan kelted to Lena.

_I've been trying to make it rain, _she answered. _No can do. I think that this is it._

_Let's ask them if they know a Genevieve. I don't really want to meet this Chiron person. _

_Let's just start by figuring out what's going on, shall we?_

* * *

Annabeth studied the newcomers. She'd gotten pretty good at identifying demigods in her time at camp. Most new arrivals were gawking at the scenery, scared, tired, sickly… More often than not, they were doing at least three of those things at once. There were traits. But these guys? They'd traveled well enough in a big group, and they tried to look at their toes or straight ahead except for Liv who was scrawling notes in a red notebook. Annabeth kept an eye on her- if she were a spy… For whom, Annabeth had no idea, but still.

"Have you ever seen any place like this? Nobody looks surprised." Annabeth said.

"We've seen enough," Link muttered.

"What do you mean?" Annabeth asked.

Percy opened the Big House's front door and Mr D immediately yelled at him to close it because goddamn they didn't have air conditioning, but that didn't mean that they had to feel it. Everyone was ushered inside and the door was slammed shut.

"Peter. Anne-Elizabeth. What have you brought us?" Mr D said strictly.

The newbies looked confused by the change of names Percy and Annabeth had undergone. Little did they know that soon they'd become Evan, Linda, Rita, Lincoln, Jimmy and Lyn.

"We're looking for Chiron," Percy said. "We have new arrivals."

"No." The grouchy god said. "Tell them to go away. We don't need any more of you."

"Mr D, camp isn't exclusive." Annabeth said patiently.

"Well it should be. You brats could sure use some quality control." Mr D said, just as Liv whispered 'what does D stand for?'

"Why in the world are you working with kids?" Ethan blurted.

Mr D gave him a dirty look, but it wasn't as bad as the one Lena shot him. Annabeth sympathized with her. Dumb boyfriend who couldn't keep his mouth shut sometimes.

"Why in the world am I working with kids…?"

"Ethan," he filled in.

"Etienne- is a very good question indeed." Mr D said furiously.

"Sir, his name…" Link spoke up.

"_Don't go there," _Percy coughed.

"Ah, Mr D. Making our new arrivals feel at home, I hope."

Chiron came into the room, full centaur mood. The newcomers all seemed taken aback.

"I've never met a centaur before," Lena said.

"Where you _expecting _to meet a centaur before?" Percy asked.

Chiron looked at Lena from top to bottom. He focused particularly on her eyes. She closed her fists, and it may just have been Annabeth but her hair was curling. No, it wasn't just Annabeth, her hair _was. _Hmm, child of Hecate maybe? It could be static electricity being manipulated of course, Jason pulled a similar trick on Piper all the time, but Annabeth doubted that there was any more blood of Zeus running around.

"Ah yes," Chiron said. "I see. Annabeth, Percy, thank you very much for your help. You can go back to your activities now."

"Chiron…" Annabeth said about to pull out a lie to excuse her staying in the Big House and listening.

"Yes, you're very welcome for the leave." Chiron said completely shutting Annabeth out. That wasn't normal, and it aggravated her too.

As they left the Big House, Annabeth's brain whizzed. The door slammed behind them and Percy swore.

"Freaking Egyptians."

* * *

"A Caster," Chiron said.

"Yes," Lena said. "Two of us."

Chiron looked at Ridley. "I assume you don't like people seeing your eyes? Gold, yes? I don't like gold eyes either."

"That's rude," Ridley said although she hated her eyes nearly more than anything.

"It's true," Chiron shrugged.

"What is this place?" Ethan asked. "Are all these kids here Casters if you know about it? It looks like a summer camp."

"This isn't a Caster place. In all my getting around, I've never stayed in this little slice of heaven and frankly I am perfectly okay with that." Ridley said.

"Watch your voice, Siren." Mr D snarled. "Keep the magic out of it, or else I will take it from you- which only has the potential for fun for one of us."

Ridley clucked her tongue.

"As you can see, Mr D and I are well informed of the Caster world," Chiron said. "And to answer your question..?"

"Etienne," Mr D filled in.

"Ethan," Lena corrected.

"Ethan," Chiron said thanking her with a bow of his head, "No: these kids aren't Casters. However their powers can be rather similar, and they aren't Mortal either."

"Half mortal," Mr D said. "Half immortal. Still not sure which side makes them as horribly painful to endure as they are."

"Immortal? Sweet," Link said. "My kind of people!"

"They are not immortal," Chiron said. Sadness filled his voice. "That isn't one of the many inherited traits that they possess."

"Half mortal, half god…" Liv said. "Percy and Annabeth spoke Greek… Peleus was the dragon's name… Are you going back to the old stories? The Greek myths? Are you saying that those kids out there were _demigods?"_

"I like her. Good job Lilly, on having found yourself a few brain cells." Mr D said.

Liv didn't even pay attention to him. "Are you?" She insisted, starring Chiron down.

The centaur spread his hands. "For a very long time, the Angelus and the Olympian gods were one and all for the mortals…"

"But they were two different people all along?" Link said. "What? Are we going to have to deal with them too?"

Thunder boomed.

"Only if you anger the council member present in this room." Mr D said.

"The D stands for Dionysus then," Ethan said.

"Very good, Etienne. I suppose I may grow to like you too," Mr D said picking at his fingernails. He looked way too bored with them for that _ever _to happen.

"Magic is such a powerful force, it would be foolish not to think that it branched out or existed in different forms," Chiron said. "Casters and Demigods… have not crossed in a while. Not as much as we did back in the days- when our inventor Daedalus' labyrinth inspired the modern build for your _lunae libri, _or when Casters were our primary source for oracles. The few Casters still in regular contact with demigods are called sorceresses now, much like the children of our goddesses, Hecate."

Lena blinked. Macon had never mentioned this to her. Had he known at all?

"But here is my question for you six," Chiron said. "Why are Casters suddenly here again?"

* * *

Rachel ran like a madwoman through the center green and thrust a canvas in Percy's hand.

"It's not dry!" She warned so that he could hold it to avoid the paint.

"Good to know," Percy grumbled holding it out so he could see it. A woman with fiery red hair wearing a dress from another century and standing in front of a burning building was represented with Rachel's typically fine strokes and skill. Vivid and disturbing to Percy.

"Cheerful," Annabeth commented.

"That's not it," Rachel said. "I just needed someone to hold it before…"

She collapsed and Annabeth caught her. She stabilised the oracle just in time for the string of words to come out unbroken.

* * *

"I can shelter you for as long as you need," Chiron said. "I suppose it may do well for our campers to realise that another branch of magic exists. Why, they're all waking up around us."

"Romans one summer, Casters the next," Mr D sighed. "Next summer are we to expect a visit from the-"

"That's quite enough Mr D," Chiron said quickly to interrupt. The old man herded their group outside, and they went down the wheelchair ramp on the porch. Lena had spotted a wheelchair in the Big House, but she hadn't spotted whose it was.

"I'll go find you tour guides, and you can all visit the grounds. We'll put you in separate cabins for the night as well. Feel free to ask any questions, it really is a whole new world for all of you. The kids here have lived through things that you may not have even dreamed of. Why, we are just recovering from our second consecutive war…"

"We've done some pretty crazy stuff," John said.

"Have you now?" Chiron smiled.

"Ethan's been to hell," Link said. "He missed the part about my telling him to stay there, but you know."

"You can exchange notes with Percy and Annabeth in that case, who went to hell's deepest parts." Chiron said glumly.

"Thank you," Lena said. "Your kindness and comprehension to our problem is appreciated."

Chiron smiled sadly. "Old curses, old prophecies… It does no good to keep them waiting. We may as well not. Oh, look. There are Piper and Drew right off the bat. Ridley, I think that you'll do well with them."

Chiron started matching them up with his campers, who looked used to giving tours- except for John's partner, a small scrawny kid with pasty skin and bad social skills judging by the look in his eyes. Link followed two boys who looked like twins although Lena had been told that they were not. Liv and Ethan went off with Percy and Annabeth, who left a dizzy-looking redhead girl clutching a canvas with Chiron so that they could have a "private conversation" once they were alone.

A.K.A. just as soon as Chiron dumped Lena with a girl named Lou Ellen.

* * *

"So, where are all of you from?" Annabeth asked.

"Gatlin," Ethan said.

"You and Link are from Gatlin, the rest of us only live there." Liv said.

"Well we left from Gatlin therefore we are from Gatlin," Ethan said.

"'From' implies the place of origin or birth," she replied. Percy felt for Ethan: arguing with girls that were smarter than you was never fun.

"I've heard of Gatlin before," Annabeth said.

"You have?" Liv said. At the same moment Ethan said, "I'm so sorry."

"How?" Liv said. "It's not on many maps. I didn't know it was a place until I got sent there for studies."

"My father's a historian who researches and writes a lot on the civil war," Annabeth said. "He used to go there all the time for the reenactment, I think it was?"

Ethan made a sound of painful acknowledgement.

"What's so bad about Gatlin?" Percy asked.

"Ask my girlfriend," Ethan said. "She'll have a lot to say on _that _particular subject."

"Lena," Annabeth nodded. She was way better at seeing the connections between people than he was. "Yes, she's special isn't she? Powers you can't explain. Children of Hecate usually have the hardest time fitting in."

"The magic goddess," Liv whispered.

"Oh, Lena isn't anyone- well, she is _somebody's _daughter, but not a god's." Ethan said. "She's something called a Caster. It's a politically correct term for witch, long story short."

Annabeth looked at Percy frowning as if he might have some insight on the subject- which he predictably did not.

"I've… never heard that." Annabeth said.

"Are you guys sure?" Percy asked.

"I am _very _sure," Liv said. "The complete havoc that wrecked through Gatlin… you wouldn't believe it. But demigods… Chiron explained everything to us but… really?"

"_Oh yes," _Percy said. "It's definitely real."

"We've just come out of five consecutive years of battle and war." Annabeth said. "You'll notice limps and injuries in the old-timers, some PTSD symptoms too if you know where to look. We have a good friend who lost a leg."

"Five years?" Ethan gasped.

"And we got lucky," Percy said. "The Trojan War lasted twenty years-"

"Ten," Annabeth said.

"Whatever, it was ten to go there and build a horse and ten to come back," Percy said. "History repeats itself with demigods, so we got _lucky_ that one time."

"The Trojan War was an actual thing?" Ethan gasped.

"Yes. So was the Iliad, the Odyssey, the Argonautica…" Annabeth said. "All the monsters, gods and stories you could possibly think of are real. Most of them are our problems as demigods- monsters come after us, see. Not much fun at all."

"But seriously, tell us more about Casters," Percy asked. "What's going on with that?"

* * *

"I hear a saw," John said.

Nico frowned and opened his mouth.

"I've got good hearing," John filled him in. Nico shrugged it off casually. John guessed that demigods weren't 100% normal either if this didn't surprise him. Either that, or Nico just didn't know what to expect from people anymore. John could sympathise. Nico looked like the kind of guy that'd been outcast his whole life and who'd grown so used to it that he'd stopped fighting the tide of it. John could sympathise with that too. Even lately he was feeling less and less like the person he should be- what, with Liv's college brochures pouring out of everywhere…

"The forge is at the other end of Camp," Nico said.

"A forge?" John asked. "Like, an auto shop?"

"No, I mean a forge." Nico said. "Anvils and fire pits and all. Come, I'll show you."

Nico led John through the labyrinth of weird cabins, summer camp activities with deadly spins (like the lava on the climbing wall- nice touch) and orange shirts. The building they walked into had dozens of chimneys on the top, and it was swarmed with kids of all shapes and sizes and noises like hammers, footsteps, saws, kids shouting to each other looking for specific tools, gears spinning…

"di Angelo," a guy called out. "I didn't think you knew that this place existed."

He was short with curly hair and a devilish, hello-I-am-trouble-but-you-may-call-me-awesome smile. He wore the staple orange shirt and a tool belt.

"I consciously choose to avoid the forge," Nico grumbled. "John, this is Leo. Leo, John."

"Sup," Leo said. "You claimed yet?"

"Claimed by who?" John asked. He could hear Liv's chiding voice in the back of his head- _Claimed by whom, John, not by who._

"John isn't a demigod, he's an Incubus." Nico said.

John turned to him. "How in the world do you know?"

Nico shrugged. "I get around."

"Like hell you do," Leo grumbled followed by something probably angry but definitely in Spanish.

"Hell is actually a very accurate representation of how I get around," Nico said.

"I'm not completely Incubus," John said. "I'm part Caster too."

Nico frowned. "Those I don't know around."

"They're like magicians except it all gets more complicated from there," John said.

"Can you guys start by explaining what an Incubus _is?" _Leo asked. "I'd appreciate it."

"Vampires but better," Nico said. "They've got powers and some suck dreams, not blood. John, what do you feed on?"

He was a bit distraught by how casually this… demigod… was talking about diets and specie characteristics and so forth.

"Dreams," he said.

"So you're not planning on eating us- I like it." Leo said.

"That's offensive," John said.

"Yeah well usually when I see supernatural beings and they see me, it ends up with my person being confused with food," Leo said. "So John, you were curious about the forge?"

"Yeah, I heard the tools." John said.

"Do you know how to handle tools?" Leo asked.

"I've patched up my Harley Davidson a few times," John shrugged.

"Fantastic, come on!" Leo said. "We have one in a back, but let's just say that Nyssa –that's my sister, everyone in here's my sisters unless they're my brothers by the way- yeah, Nyssa is pimping it up a bit. We're thinking of welding a gun to the gas tank and adding a few extra features- acid, fire and whatnot."

"Fire?" John said. He grinned. "_That_ I want to see."

* * *

"Save me," Ridley said as soon as she spotted Lena in the crowd of campers.

"What's going on?" Lena asked.

"The two little princesses showing me around? Yeah, they're immune to Sirens." Ridley said crossing her arms. "_Immune to sirens. _What the hell am I supposed to do with that?"

"Maybe you could try talking to them normally," Lena said. "I know, it's a big concept. But usually if you listen to them, they'll listen to you. That's how normal people coexist with society."

Ridley rolled her eyes.

"I thought that Piper looked really nice and she seemed close to Drew, so she can't be that bad either." Lena said.

"Whatever," Ridley said. "What about you? Who were you even running around with all afternoon?"

"A girl named Lou Ellen," Lena said. "She's very sweet. She calls herself a daughter of Hecate, the magic goddess. They look like the demigod version of Casters."

"Oh good," Ridley with a tone that meant that she couldn't care less. "Hey hon?"

A satyr turned to look at them. He looked about twelve.

"Is there any way a girl could get a drink around here?" Ridley said smiling and fanning her face. She tossed her hair out of her face.

"There's a lot of Diet Coke," the satyr replied. Lena clucked her tongue but Ridley ignored her.

"Not enough sugar. Can you make it regular?" Ridley asked.

The satyr, clearly in a daze, nodded again.

"Thanks Sugar," Ridley said. The satyr scampered off and Lena shot her cousin a look.

"We are _guests, _Ridley. Stop it." Lena said. "Go after that poor satyr and tell him to go on with his day."

"What? A girl's got to stay hydrated in this weather." Ridley said.

"Pretty sure that that's why Chiron put you with us dumb little princesses," someone said. Lena spun around and spotted Piper. She didn't look too impressed either. "Charmspeak isn't accepted at Camp. Accidents are tolerated, but we try not to brainwash people purposefully- especially not for something as pitiful as a _soda._"

"Charmspeak, is that what you call it?" Ridley snickered.

"Yes. On the other hand you call it Siren, which to us is a giant naked lady/bird that causes ships to crash in the sea of monsters and drives people to insanity. Although I suppose that there isn't much of a difference in your case." Piper shrugged.

Lena had to bite her lips to keep herself quiet. Piper had delivered the line with such class that she couldn't really be mad at her. Besides, some things Ridley needed to hear.

"You little-"

"Yes, I am on the smallish side for my age." Piper said. "I have counselor chores to do so I'll see you at dinner Ridley. And just before you go- you must be Lena; I'm Piper, it's nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too," Lena said. Piper walked away and she had to smile when Ridley looked at her.

"See what I mean?" Ridley said. "These people are impossible. I don't even know why I let you talk me into coming along on this infernal trip."

"Maybe because you need to get some fresh air and some new perspectives," Lena said tapping her arm. "Besides, you got to spend time with Link. Don't you tell me that you're upset about that."

* * *

"Hey man," Ethan said when he crossed Link again. "Long time no see."

"Ditto," Link said. "How have you been? Liv?"

"Alright," Ethan said.

"This is so informative, I had no idea that the Olympians existed!" Liv said. "Did you know that the reason that is, is that there's a kind of veil-"

"How's your day been?" Ethan asked Link. "Who were you with?"

"These two guys called Travis and Connor Stoll," Link said.

"How did it go?" Annabeth asked cautiously.

"They tied me to a post in the sun to see if I'd sparkle," Link said.

* * *

"Hey, how are you," John said wrapping his arms around Liv from behind.

She leaned her head back and smiled at him. Her smile was a mix of sunshine and firelight and stars, and until he found something brighter and warmer it always would be.

"Better now," she said.

"How are the kids you've been visiting with?" John said. "Annabeth and Percy, right?"

"They're nice," Liv said. "Very nice. Annabeth and her siblings are children of Athena, the wisdom goddess. They've been _so _helpful about picking colleges and universities- I have new perspectives on nearly all of them now. They have parents and siblings who are graduates or professors at nearly all the major campuses in the country."

John's stomach sunk a bit. "That's fantastic."

"I've been reconsidering Harvard. Malcolm, one of the boys, was telling me about this great program. It's hard to get into it, but it's cheaper." Liv chatted on and on. John's stomach sunk a bit, but he listened to her talk some more. He was behind Liv all the time, no questions asked. Her dreams, her ambitions, her problems, when she needed help... But this whole post-secondary studies thing was making him feel left out for a variety of reasons on the _dumb social outcast _scale.

* * *

After supper there was a campfire on the agenda.

Lena spent the whole time kelting song lyrics to Ethan who kept asking what that last one had been because he wanted to sing but couldn't decipher the words well enough, and talking Ridley out of blowing up the amphitheatre to have it over with. Liv thought the songs were cute because she saw mythological puns at every turn, and John was doing his best to hum along for her sake. Link was of course completely into it on several emotional levels.

After the campfire, Chiron introduced the Casters as "another branch of magic" and nobody seemed too keen on asking questions except for the group of kids who were sitting with Annabeth.

Chiron wished them all a goodnight and he called a few counselors forwards to assign a bed to everyone.

"Lou Ellen, I'd like you to take Lena in again; and Nico I'm sure you can accommodate John. Liv, I know that you're a Keeper in training so maybe you can go with Annabeth- Annabeth, try not to let them swarm her with too many questions. At least _try. _Ridley, you can go with Piper and the rest of Cabin 10. Link and Ethan, I think that you two should go with our only mortal at Camp: meet Rachel."

The girl with the fiery bush of red hair smiled and waved. She had a splash of purple on her nose and blue fingerprints on her chin, as if she'd paused while painting to think. Nobody had pointed it out to her yet.

"Have a nice evening, all of you. I will see you at breakfast."

Ridley leaned into Rachel, imposing as a giantess. Everyone shuffled uncomfortably.

"I don't care what you do with the scrawny one," she said. "But the other one? He's mine."

"I'm an eternal virgin," Rachel said cheerfully. "Don't worry. It's all good."

* * *

Lena folded her clothes and tucked them under her bed. They disappeared.

"So when I want them again..?" Lena asked.

"Reach out for them," Lou Ellen said. "Pretty cool, right? We just didn't think that we had room in here for boring things like furniture- too much magic and flying and balms and trial and error going on."

The cabin was clearly newly built, but it was already burned and scorched and stained in as many expected places, like the floor, as unexpected, like the ceiling. It was a round room with curtains that wrapped around each bed, giving everyone some private space. Trap doors littered the floor, and people kept popping in or out. The middle of the room had a few stations that looked like they belonged in a chemistry class. Cages, terrariums, aquariums and insectariums were strategically placed all around the room. The ceiling was clear and it showed the sky- the sky with frozen weather that Lena had followed to find this place. Strands of light floated around the room and right out of the trap door or bunks at times- the children of Hecate would grab them, drag them closer to them with their fingers like a leaf floating in a puddle, and read them like memos or lessons or notes they were exchanging.

"Very cool," Lena said looking around.

"You're welcome to try your hand at nearly anything in here," Lou Ellen said. "You'll notice our hair-always-tied-up, minimum-jewellery and never-barefoot rules for safety too."

"Yeah," Lena nodded. "But I'm actually pretty tired."

"It's been a long day," Lou Ellen sympathised. She was a naturally stick-thin girl. She was pale and her black hair was packed up in a twist on the back of her head. Those three traits –paleness, build, hair- were typical of children of Hecate. So was the unusual eye colour, in Lou Ellen's case the exact shade of an African violet's petal. "Sleep tight, Lena. The rest of us shouldn't be long."

"Okay," Lena said smiling. Lou Ellen was about to walk out of Lena's curtained off area, but Lena caught her.

"Wait- Lou?"

"Sure?"

"Is there anybody at camp named Genevieve?" She asked.

Lou looked down at her feet and pondered in a small voice, eyes wide.

"Genevieve, Genevieve… No. I knew a demigoddess named Genevieve though."

"Really?" Lena perked up.

"She was a daughter of Tyche- the luck goddess. She died two years ago, in Kronos' service. She was deployed in the marine force, on a ship called the _Princess Andromeda._" Lou Ellen said. "Why do you ask?"

"No reason. I know a Genevieve who disappeared when I was in the third grade, and I thought that it might make sense for her to be here after all."

"That's a long time ago," Lou flinched. "I hate to say it, but either your Genevieve is dead or she wasn't a demigod."

"Alright," Lena said. "Thanks Lou."

"Sure. Holler if you need me."

* * *

"Everyone sits by cabin at meals, so you're with me from now on," Rachel said as they walked into the breakfast pavilion. "I like to get here fashionably late."

A few tables were already cluttered with kids digging in.

"Oh, there's Percy." Rachel said walking over to the table where the son of Posidan (was that the sea god's name? Link didn't know) was sitting alone.

"I thought you said we sat by parent," Ethan said.

"I'm the oracle. I do what I want." Rachel said.

"Hey," Percy said as they sat down. "I think the nymphs knew you were coming. The food hasn't gotten here yet."

Just as he spoke, a pretty girl who could've been twelve or twelve hundred walked out. She dropped a few platters on the table.

"Thanks," Percy said. The girl blew him a kiss.

"Nymphs," Rachel said rolling her eyes. "For creatures who get chased by satyrs that they deny ASAP all day, they sure are needy."

They loaded their plates and then the two campers got up.

"Come on," Percy said. They joined a line of kids in front of a flame.

"Desert at breakfast?" Link asked confused. He wasn't sure whether Amma would cry or laugh at that...

"We're sacrificing food, dumbo." Rachel asked.

"To who?" Link asked again, quick to speak to make up for himself.

Thunder rumbled around, but nobody so much as moved as if this happened on a daily basis.

"Maybe to the godly parents who help us keep the camp running?" Rachel said again lifting an eyebrow and giving Link the typical _what an idiot _look that was amplified by her creepy bright green eyes.

"We're mortals, what do we do?" Ethan asked.

Percy thought for a second. "Sacrifice to someone who you think needs it. If not just go with Hestia. She's pretty cool."

Link knew that Ethan would scrape probably most of his breakfast to his mom, Aunt Prue and Amma. Link just followed Percy's advice to this Hestia person and whispered her name under his breath as he dropped a few toasts in the flames. Heck, he scraped everything in; he didn't need food for fun right now and apparently Percy thought that Hestia might.

"So why doesn't the oracle have a table?" Ethan asked.

"Oh, the oracle was a mummy until very recently." Rachel said. "No table was needed back then, and since I got the job, there have been other priorities. Besides, I like moving around."

"There are always priorities," Percy said. "Plus your Highness of Omniscience over here blurted out another prophecy yesterday…"

"Oh shut up," Rachel said slapping him on the arm. "That was a small one."

"A small one?" Ethan said.

"Yeah. There are Great Prophecies –like those that go with wars. There are Quest prophecies which send heroes off on adventures. Then there are small ones, like predicting my math's class average test score or what's for breakfast."

"So what are the lottery numbers for tonight?" Link snickered.

"I actually don't know what the last one was about," Rachel said dreamily, stirring her cup of coffee.

"Poetic BS," Percy said. "I apply the same logic to Rachel as I do to Shakespeare."

Link nodded, thinking that this seemed legit and about how he liked Percy who unlike certain people didn't complicate his life much.

"Shakespeare was an _artist," _Rachel sighed slapping Percy again. She slapped him thrice more. "That second one was for Annabeth, the third for your literature-nut parents and the fourth for the Bard himself."

Ethan gave Link a meaningful look, like maybe he'd bring Rachel back to Gatlin and have her listen in on every stupid thing Link said about literature.

"What were we saying? Ah yes, my prophecy is unclear." Rachel said. "It seems unclear- the tone's more informative than instructive or authoritarian, really."

"What was it?" Link asked.

Rachel quoted:

_"The smell of lemon in her hair_

_The scent of smoke has cleared the air_

_The antidote springs from the poison_

_Found by the sea where the sky is frozen." _

Link immediately spun around and matched Ethan's wide eyes with his own.

* * *

Ethan caught Lena's hand as she followed a group of skinny, pale looking kids with dark hair and unusually coloured eyes out of the dining pavilion. Her green and gold fit in quite well.

Lena managed to weasel her way out and they escaped to behind the pavilion, where nobody looked.

_Hey,_ Ethan kelted, kissing her forehead.

_Hey, _she kelted kissing him on the lips.

_Did you sleep well? Are you okay?_

_You know that I'd have kelted if something was the matter, Ethan. _Lena chided. _That's how I know that you're fine too. What's going on?_

_The campers know about Aunt Del's prophecy. _

Lena's eyes widened.

_Rachel, the oracle, said the exact same words yesterday. Nobody told them a word about why we're here, right?_

Lena shook her head. _Not even Ridley._

Ethan sighed. _So we're clearly on the right track. The question is; w__hat do we do now?_

_We don't tell them, _Lena said. _It may interfere with our search, make us look insane. Already they've never heard of people like us before. Speaking of which, have you found anything?_

_Nope. Not a sign. I haven't even heard the name Genevieve._

_Apparently there was a demigoddess named Genevieve alive, but she was never at camp. She died two years ago, at sea._

_It can't be her, then, _Ethan said. _She's here somewhere, hiding. Maybe she's a ghost? _

_Great. We can go check out the Big House tonight and look for electric disturbances._

_We'll fix this, don't worry._

Lena shivered. _It makes me think too much of the way things were before- casts keeping us apart. I don't want to go back to that, because who knows what else will come back if so..._

"We won't," Ethan said kissing her forehead.

Percy and Annabeth popped up holding hands, spotted Ethan and Lena, and backed away promptly.

"Ethan, do you think we took their spot?"Lena whispered.

Ethan laughed.

* * *

"So your Dad controls the Underworld?" John asked as he worked on the motorcycle. Nyssa was letting him- Leo said that it meant a lot on her behalf.

"Yeah," Nico said. "Great story for parties."

"As if you'd be caught dead in one," John scoffed. "I've only known you for a day and I know that."

"Demigods have been caught dead in many places," Nico said.

"That's a lot of dead people your Dad has control over," John said.

"Not as many as people think," Nico said. "A lot of reincarnation happens. People come back in another form than their own. There was a crisis last year, but now it's okay."

"Nice," John said.

* * *

That afternoon, Annabeth weaseled out of her duty as counselor and showed Liv and Lena the best view of camp you could get.

"Most people don't climb this tree out of respect, so don't come alone." Annabeth said putting her hands on the lowest branch of the gigantic pine tree at camp's main entrance. "But I know Thalia pretty well, and she's never minded my climbing. Not even when she was the tree."

"Pardon me- she _was _the tree?" Lena asked. She'd been under the belief that this was a _sanctuary; _a safe place. People didn't turn into trees if the place they were in was safe.

"Modern mythology," Annabeth shrugged before pulling herself up on the branch. Lena gave Liv a boost, and after that they just followed Annabeth up. She knew how to snake around the branches and avoid the patches of pine sap as she climbed.

She stopped at a rather high branch.

"Is this strong enough for all three of us?" Liv asked.

"Of course," Annabeth said. "I'll tell you Thalia's story; the tree could withstand nearly anything at this point of its life."

Lena and Liv eased themselves on the branches around Annabeth. She was right. The view _was _fantastic. The buildings –the big imposing pavilions with the columns, the three-storied Big House, the climbing wall taller and less convenient than the water tower in Gatlin, the variety of cabins thrown together- looked tiny. It didn't take away their beauty somehow; it made them look… it made them look like the real world. Big things were small in the real world.

_If big is small and small is big, how do you tell what the world truly is?_

The roaring fire that the small girl in brown tended to looked like a spark. The campers, all the trained warriors in armour, looked like scrambling ants. The lake looked like a puddle.

Lena said that last part out, and Annabeth grinned. "It's one special puddle, I can tell you that much."

If she squinted, Lena located a few shapes not dressed in orange or bronze.

_I see you, _she kelted to Ethan.

_Where are you? _He answered after a few seconds that he must have spent looking around. Lena smiled.

_Guess. _

"The cabins are in the shape of an omega," Liv said pointing to the cabins. Lena remembered it being the last letter of the Greek alphabet. "Is that the first letter of Olympus in Greek?"

"No, that would be an Omicron," Annabeth said, "The same shape as the Latin 'O'. The omega is the symbol of Kronos- most of the people in the newer cabins, the ones to the minor gods, served in his army before they were allowed into camp and granted equality by the gods. It's a reminder of where we all come from and the mistakes we've all made."

"Lou Ellen told me a bit about that," Lena nodded.

"Lou is one of the people who will talk about Kronos' army," Annabeth nodded.

"You were going to tell us Thalia's story?" Liv asked eagerly.

"Yes –a tree- how did that happen?" Lena said.

Annabeth smiled. "It happened about eleven years ago; I was seven years old."

They must have stayed in the tree for hours, swapping stories. Annabeth told them about the last two wars, about Thalia, about a bunch of quests she'd been on, about the original myths, Western civilisation… Liv was basically drooling at all the new information. In exchange they told her about the _lunae libri _which Annabeth was incredibly interested in, about the green and gold eyes of Casters, the classes of Casters, the Keepers, Abraham and Sarafine… She was an excellent listener, but she asked them to hold the details when they got to the part about getting Ethan out of the After Life.

She rubbed the back of her neck as if there was an ache there.

"I've had some experiences I'm recovering from," she said. "But I'm sure that there are others who would _love _to hear about that. Talk to Piper, she's always in when it comes to a good story."

The conch horn blew. They'd wasted the afternoon away- it was ten minutes to supper time, the 'clean up, you have to get to your cabin' bell.

"Oh gods," Annabeth said. "Quick, we've got to go!"

They scrambled down quickly, Liv being the slowest.

"I have to go put my notebook back," Liv said.

"Run for it," Annabeth said.

"Sure," Liv said before taking off.

"Thanks for that," Lena said stretching her arms over her neck. "All those stories and the mythology and history… It was cool to hear."

"Thank you for your stories too," Annabeth said. "That's what I love about Camp; I can't help but think of it as one big hub for a gazillion different people and lives, dreams and philosophies, ideas and skills..."

Liv nodded. "That's what it feels like."

Annabeth nodded, reaching behind her head and pulling her elastic, shaking her curls loose and picking a few pine needles out of it. "Well, I better run since I'm counsellor. I'll see you later with a little luck."

"Sure thing," Lena nodded. Annabeth smiled and sprinted down Half-Blood hill to get back to Cabin Six. As she ran by, Lena caught a whiff of her hair and her legs nearly gave out under her.

Lemon.

Annabeth's hair smelled like lemon.

* * *

"I know that this isn't much to go on," Lena said, "But _the scent of lemon in her hair _is all that we know about who and how Genevieve is right now, and that's all that we've found that's remotely helpful since we got here."

"Well if it's the only clue we have it must be very decisive," Liv said.

"How could Annabeth be Genevieve?" Ridley said. "It doesn't make any sense- Genevieve is in the After Life right now."

They were all sitting in the Big House, and Chiron had kindly offered them lemonade while they talked.

"Wait…" John said. "Nico was talking to me earlier; his Dad's the god of the dead-"

"Fun guy," Link commented.

Liv kicked him under the table for how rude that comment was.

"He was telling me about something that the Greeks believe in, different from what we do," John said. "He was telling me about how reincarnation was a real thing…"

"Annabeth Chase Is Genevieve Ducchanes reincarnated," Liv breathed. Her brain was whirling as it connected the dots and created more dots to connect. "Oh my God. Does that make Percy... Ethan Carter?"

"That I don't think we can find out," Lena said. "And I'm not even sure about Annabeth... John, are you sure about what Nico said? Was there some kind of time limit on when you could be reincarnated or what?"

"I don't think so," John said. "No, I think it's like the cult infomercials say. You just pop up into a new body when you die."

"Something cool like a shark if you were good and something lame like an Ethan if you were bad?" Link asked.

Ethan punched his shoulder.

"Not now," Liv said raising her hand. _Geez: __Boys._ "What matters now is confirming this. How do we do that?"

Ethan and Lena looked at each other with that special concentration in their eyes that Liv had learned to recognise quickly.

"Stop kelting and speak out loud for the rest of us," Liv said strictly. They broke away from each other and returned to the real world.

"Lena has Genevieve's locket," Ethan said. "In the car. Maybe… maybe we can get a flashback after the Civil War. Of Genevieve after she was Genevieve…"

"It's worth a shot," Link said. "That thing's always showed you what needed to be seen, right?"

"Go get it," Liv said. Ethan and Lena slipped out.

"This is messed up," John said passing a hand through his hair. Liv rested her head on his shoulder and he started playing with hers instead.

"At least you paid attention to what Nico said," Liv said. "Thank God for that."

"If you two kiss, I vomit." Ridley announced.

"For someone who believes so firmly in cooties all of a sudden, you were very insistent about Rachel not ravishing Link yesterday," Liv snapped coldly.

Ridley shut up.

"You know, you kind of were…" Link ventured.

"Shut up, Hot Rod." Ridley snapped.

"Okay," Link said happy to have ticked her off one way or another.

Ethan and Lena came back. Lena held the locket by the chain, straight out in front of her.

"Good thing we didn't get rid of it," Ethan said sitting down. "The stupidest things come in handy, I swear."

"Okay," Lena said, not paying much attention to him. She took a deep breath. "You ready Ethan?"

Liv held her breath herself.

"Anytime, L." Ethan said. Their fingers touched the locket at the same time.

* * *

_A girl followed a train as it pulled out of the railway, slowly at first. The crease between her eyebrows was very telling- she was afraid, worried, concerned, sad, anxious... too many negative feelings. The station's brick wall behind her was plastered with colourful propaganda posters that were pretty much screwing over Germany. _

_ The woman suddenly started speeding up with the train's speed. Her long hair trailed behind her, like the tail of a commet. She was running now, until she couldn't keep up and the train zoomed away._

_"Oh gods, Carter," she said playing with a ring on her finger. "Come back..." _

* * *

_It was a dark corner of town, quite clearly. Night had fallen, and nobody was around save for a white girl and a Hispanic man who were holding onto each other. Her head rested on his chest, his fingers brushing her long curly hair._

_"Law or not," she said, "I know what I'm feeling. There isn't a single proclamation in the world that could tell me that I don't love you. I know that I love you, I know that I loved you before I realised it, and I know that I will love you long after there is a me to realise that I love you. But for the first time in the world I don't know what to do next."_

_He brushed her hair. "Evangeline, we always find a way you and I. We will find another way now. No problem." _

_She took a deep breath and relaxed against him. "I can't believe that old men who don't even feel sparks in moments like these get to decide which of us do with whom." _

* * *

_ A young couple was positioned in front of an antique television set, looking as nervous and anxious as cats in a room full of rocking chairs. They sat on the edges of their seats, watching anxiously. There was a low, rumbling sound that got louder and louder. In scratchy voices camouflaged by static, reporters were celebrating and firing off stats and dates. _

_"They did it!" The young man said grabbing the woman with him in a hug. "They're going in the moon, Katie! They're off! They're going to the moon with your experiment!" _

_ She was so happy, she was nearly crying. He buried his face in her blond hair._

_"Katie, you did it," he said kissing her head. "You beat everyone who didn't believe in you." _

* * *

Lena and Ethan both came out of their visionary trance at once.

"The evolution," Ethan choked out, "In how they looked..."

This was completely senseless to Liv, but Lena nodded. "The girl- she was always looking more and more like Annabeth. Hair, eyes, height... Like everything was leading up to her becoming Annabeth Chase."

"So we found what you were looking for," Ridley said. "This is fantastic, we're nearly done here."

Liv shook her head. "No way Ridley; now we've just found Genevieve and maybe Ethan Carter. Now we have to convince them to come remove the curse on Ravenwood property. We have to convince them that they were a Caster and a confederate soldier in past lives."

"Exactly," Ridley said. "Easy peasy."

* * *

As it turned out, it was not 'easy peasy'.

Percy was doing the dumbest chore in the world for counselors- cabin inspections. It basically consisted of him walking around and grading the cabin's cleanliness on a scale of one to ten. Usually Annabeth would walk around with him, but not today. Ethan had volunteered to walk around with him.

"Do you believe in reincarnation?" Ethan asked as they walked back the to Big House so Percy could submit his evaluation sheet.

Percy frowned. "Of course I do. I've seen it happen."

"Do you think that you're someone reincarnated?" Ethan said.

"Possibly," Percy shrugged. "Why are you so curious? Don't Casters have this in your world?"

Ethan shook his head. "We'd never heard of it in fact before. What would you do if you could find out who you were in your past life?"

Percy shrugged. "I don't really care. Whoever I used to be in a past life is basically just a canvas. It got painted over and replaced with me. I'm recycled materials, but 100% me, myself and I now."

"What if it did matter?"

"Ethan, what are you getting at bro?" Percy asked.

"There's a reason that Lena, co and I came here," Ethan said. "We came looking for Camp."

Percy's arm twitched. His sword arm- not reassuring at all, he'd seen this guy fight in the arena earlier. "Why?"

"We'd gotten a prophecy from one of her aunts, Ridley's mom, who is dead now. It was her swan song." Ethan said. "We have a problem. We really need your help- you and Annabeth's."

Percy didn't look like he knew what to do.

He shook his head frantically.

"No. No Ethan, I'm so sorry, I just, we can't… No." Percy said passing his hand through his hair. "I'm sorry, can you bring this in for me? I have to..."

Ethan felt bad for whatever he had said that was wrong, so he took the sheet from Percy and watched him walk off.

* * *

"I was wondering where you'd been spending your days," Liv said. John turned around from the engine that he was putting back together. There had been coins jammed in various usually coin-free places in the engine's gearing.

"Hello," Leo said pleasantly.

John gave him a look. Leo seemed to understand it, maybe he was used to seeing it, and he retreated to la-la land.

"Hey sweetheart," John said holding out his arms. Liv came for a hug.

"I'll go check on that digital armour project," Leo said. "I'll catch you two later."

Leo made himself scarce and Liv looked around. She traced an oil splat on his arm with her finger. "I'm glad that you found something that you liked at Camp Half-Blood."

"Yeah," John said playing with a wrench lying around.

"Maybe you could do that other than in here," Liv said. "Mechanics…"

"Maybe," John said.

"I think you'd be good at it," Liv said.

"You just want me to go to college." John said. "You just need to be able to say that at least your boyfriend isn't sketchy _and _an idiot, that he has a piece of paper framed and on a wall somewhere."

Her mouth dropped and she frowned. Her vocals were out of commission for a second.

"That's not true," Liv said. "John, I don't... I'm not shallow, and I don't think you're dumb. I think you're quite brilliant, actually, in quite a few ways. I just want you to have a connection to the world. I want you to have a passion, something that you love, something that you can always go back to…"

"You're my connection," John said pushing her hair from her face.

"I'm not enough." Liv shook her head. "And I know that you don't think so, but I think that I can be the judge of that at least a little bit. You deserve more than someone else, you deserve to have something inside of you that makes you tick."

John didn't say much.

"Love?" Liv asked. "Are you..?"

"I'm okay," John said. "I guess... After I started thinking freely and after I got away from Abraham, I guess that I was just so afraid of losing you -the first thing that I'd really had that was worth it- that I didn't want to venture too far away."

"You can't lose something that isn't going anywhere," Liv said. "Come on. Talk to me for two hours about mechanics."

* * *

Lena hadn't had any luck on the convincing-Annabeth front, so the next step was to confront both of them together. Piper, Leo, and Grover the satyr were there, just so that the two demigods had someone else there to give opinions.

They told them everything- from finding Genevieve's locket together at the neighbour's property to what they'd learned about their ancestors, and then about last night and the car accident in April.

"Your story makes… sense." Annabeth said finally.

"Thank you," Lena said. If Annabeth saw logic in something, it was a good sign.

"But the thing is…" Annabeth said. She met Percy's eyes and shook her head, as if trying to shake out a thought. "Don't take this personally. Please, don't. But last time Percy and I worked with curses and oaths…"

"I nearly lost her," Percy said in a hoarse voice. "We nearly died in the deepest part of the Underworld. Worst, we nearly got stuck in there for the rest of eternity. Ethan, I know that you've had some bad experiences in the After Life, but try to think of our story instead of yours- our Underworld is different, and our status as demigods is different. We were surrounded by monsters we'd put there ourselves, Annabeth was hurt, we had no supplies but still needed to eat and drink and be warm…"

"We've both been diagnosed with PTSD in the last year," Annabeth said. "We'd love to help you, but… but we'd need more than a hunch to go on if we're going to leave New York and mess around with magic again."

Piper squeezed Annabeth's shoulder and nodded to Lena, as if to enforce everything they'd said. Lena noticed how in-tune with each other they were even without kelting way before she realised that they'd just said no.

Ethan kelted first. _What now?_

_Well, their side of the story makes sense too, _Lena said. _And even if it didn't, we couldn't just force them to help us. __We can't talk them into doing something that might trigger them._

_Agreed._

"We understand," Ethan said. "But would you give us one more chance, if we can find something concrete to prove that this trip outside of camp wouldn't be for nothing? That it'd be safe? If we could form a real, permanent plan?"

"Yes," Percy said automatically. Annabeth shot him a look. "We want to help just…"

"I know," Lena said quietly. "You can't move unless the earth is falling."

Annabeth nodded and scrutinised Lena's eyes to see how in the world _she _knew the feeling.

_Depression, _Lena wanted to project.

"We'll think about it," Percy said.

* * *

Percy walked in on Annabeth crying instead of working on the blueprint she sat in front of- a rare sight indeed.

"Wise Girl," he said so that she'd know he was there. She jumped a bit, surprised.

"Seaweed brain," she said wiping at her eyes. "What are you..?"

"I thought my shoulder may be better to cry on than your desk," Percy said.

"You dolt," Annabeth said wiping her eyes.

Percy pulled up a chair and sat down next to her. She leaned back onto his knees, propping up her feet on another chair. She breathed in and out, very forced and focused for a while.

"I felt bad saying no," she said to break the silence.

"I know," Percy said nodding.

"But at the same time, it's the first month since last summer that you've slept through every night, and this summer is the first time that I've been able to keep complete meals down." Annabeth said. She was touching the back of her neck as if to remember the wound she'd had there- a wound that Tartarus himself had inflicted. "Do we really want to put that in jeopardy at the drop of a hat?"

Percy nodded. Those were his thoughts exactly.

"It hurts. I'm prideful and I can't even be helpful when someone –someone nice and kind at that- asks me for help." Annabeth said. She shook her head. "I hate it."

"I know," Percy said. He leaned his own head back. "I hate disappointing people."

They both just sat there for a while, thinking everything over.

"I wouldn't want to disappoint my Dad," Annabeth said. "Do you know how happy he was when I told him that I was able to eat right again?"

"My mom's done everything in her power and more to help me get over this," Percy said. "She's stayed up entire nights with me and sat down next to my bed when I was scared to go back to sleep; Paul learned how to play Xbox so that I wouldn't be alone when I pulled all-nighters."

"Chiron was thrilled too," Annabeth said.

"Grover…"

"My siblings…"

"Tyson and Ella."

"The rest of the Seven…"

They looked up at each other.

"Maybe for now we have people not to disappoint that are right here," Annabeth said. "Maybe we need to start small again, like when we were twelve."

"I guess that maybe we've got to learn how to save ourselves instead of others," Percy said.

"Gods, who'd have expected us to _ever _say these things?" Annabeth said shaking her head and smiling in spite of herself.

"I don't know, but speaking of which- did anyone look genuinely surprised when we told them we'd fallen into Tartarus? Or was it just a _oh yeah, of course dumbass Jackson would jump into Tartarus, this is such a _them _thing to do."_

Annabeth burst out laughing.

* * *

"You can't just find a way to show _them _the visions too?" Link asked. They were sitting in the Center Green all together. He was picking at blades of grass viciously.

Out of all the people hanging out in the Green, they looked like the only miserable ones.

"No, it's just Ethan and I," Lena said shaking her head sadly.

"There has to be a document in the _Lunae libri," _Liv said. She tried to remember something that she may have spotted down by the shelves earlier, but absolutely nothing came to mind.

"We can't wait until Thanksgiving to go look and maybe come up empty-handed," Ethan said.

"Could Nico track all of this down?" John said. "Are any records kept?"

"I don't think so," Liv said clucking her tongue. "Not from what I got out of him when I asked."

"I wish we could just show them home," Lena said putting her head in her hands. "I wish we could show them Greenbrier and show them our world and show them Ravenwood and all the portriats everywhere. I am _so _sure that if they could be sure that we were on their side, that this was necessary to us… It's not even their faults, but if they knew… They just look like the kind of people who know what it's like to want to fight for your home."

"Your home?" Ridley said.

"Ethan is my home," Lena said. "Wherever Ethan is I can call home. I want that house to be home again. I can't even _kelt _with him from inside Ravenwood."

"I'd do anything I could to help you man," Link said sorrily putting a hand on each of their backs.

"I'm sorry?" A tiny little girl in brown who tended to the fire daily said. She came forwards and pushed her hood back. Her eyes were full of flames. "Wesley Lincoln. Do you need services concerning the home? I am very much the goddess you need."

"I do but… who are you?" Link asked.

"I am Hestia," she said. "I am Hestia, and I never forget a sacrifice or an act of kindness."

* * *

"Milady," Percy said confused. "I don't understand…"

"A home is in jeopardy for both of you," Hestia said. "You and Miss Chase may lose the comfort and safety that you have just grown to find again, and Miss Ducchanes and Mr Wate may lose theirs. Not only can I not let this stand, but I owe a favour to your friend Link for the best meal I've had in years."

Link blushed. "The sacrifice? Like, at our first breakfast here?"

"Small things can go a long way in this world," the child goddess said. She sat down cross-legged and patted the ground next to her.

The sun was dipping below the horizon, and technically they were supposed to be at Capture-the-Flag; but who would play a camp game when a goddess had requested their presence? Although she didn't look much like a goddess to John, her eyes told him that she wasn't mortal or demigod either.

They sat down around Hestia –Percy, Lena, Annabeth, Ridely, Link, Liv, Ethan- and she put her hands to the ground.

"Close your eyes," she said softly. "Now what do you see?"

* * *

_ Ethan recognised his kitchen. Amma and Mom were at the counter, the former getting more impatient by the minute as she tried to teach Lila how to cook. _

_"Thank God that we've got Amma, eh?" Ethan called out after Mom made another stupid mistake._

_"Now you hush Ethan Wate," Mom called to him. "Pie isn't as easy to make as it looks." __She started laughing at the face Amma made her._

_"No Ethan, you are completely right," she called. "You sure as summer wouldn't get fed anywhere near decently if I weren't around, I can tell you that much." _

_"Decently as in eight letters across-" Mom started in a tone mockingly similar to Amma's. _

_"Now you Lila Evers-"_

_ Mom laughed and laughed. She turned around and winked to Ethan._

* * *

_"Have you seen the headlines today? 'Man tries to rob donut shop but forgets to put holes in mask'." Paul said leaning against the counter where he dropped off more dishes._

_"Seriously?" Mom said, drying her hands from the bubbly dishwater. "Oh my… This is a curious world." _

_"Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi," Paul said right away. Mom laughed. They had this thing where they quoted books during conversation, and whoever wasn't quoting had to call the other out on it as soon as possible, or else had to do the dishes. Percy didn't mind since that usually meant that he did less dishes, plus it was funny to hear one of them panic because they couldn't remember who'd written some dusty classic that nobody in the world even knew about anymore, much less quoted._

_"Mom," Percy shouted from the kitchen table where he'd spread out his books just as soon as dinner's leftovers and dishes had been removed. _

_"Yes sweetheart?" _

_"I need to find themes in Romeo and Juliet and I'm really stuck," he said. _

_"What have you got so far?" _

_"Love and violence," Percy said._

_"That's a good start," Mom said encouragingly. "Try to think about what _causes _the violence and the love."_

_"Hormones?" _

_His parents killed themselves laughing._

_"That's probably a factor, but not the one they're looking for I think," Mom said. "Alright. What else?"_

_"I think that it was their families. Like, their parents didn't want them to even talk to each other, so when they met they decided that they had to fall in love and justify it quickly. Kind of like the opposite of Annabeth and I."_

_"Well done," Mom said. "Family is definitely a big theme here." _

_ Percy was stuck so Paul hopped in._

_"Think about what you don't like about the play," Paul said. "I guarantee that Shakespeare put it there for a reason. Branch out from that one thing."_

_"They fall in love super quickly," Percy said. "So I guess that I don't like the timing of everything. Is time a theme?"_

_"Yes honey, it's everywhere." Sally nodded. _

_ Paul pulled up a chair and helped him with the rest. And that's how Percy got the first 85% of his life on a project. _

* * *

_"These are just bleachers," Ridley said, making a face as she had to sit down on the peeling paint. _

_"Wrong. These are _the _bleachers of Gatlin County, thank you very much." Link replied._

_"I don't understand why they're exceptional."_

_"They are exceptional because it is a wonderful place to kiss beautiful girls." Link said._

_ And that was how the smooth bastard made the first move for the first time._

* * *

_Lena saw Ravenwood, and she was lonely and wandering through it. _

Ethan, _she kelted. No answer. _Ethan, _she kelted again. _

_Nope. She was definitely alone._

_Alone in her own home. That didn't feel good at all. _

* * *

_Link recognised the Gatlin Library, where Marian was sitting on the corner of a desk Macon had adopted. Ethan and Lena stood in front of them, frowning and flabbergasted and seemingly angry._

_"Protective casts are designed for longevity; naturally, considering the disastrous consequences of them fading away. If the cast is violated or threatened, which the particular cast Genevieve put on the property will if Ethan keeps coming close to Ravenwood Manor or maybe even Lena in general, they spread and strengthen."_

_"What?" Ethan said. "Spread how?"_

_"There are two ways from my calculations, research and vast experience on the subject," Macon said. "Either Ethan will get maimed see killed after a while; or the more likely option is that the cast will spread and push Ethan further and further away from Ravenwood. Maybe even out of Gatlin, at some point. State, country, continent… Really, knowing the bounds would only come with time."_

* * *

They all seemed to come back to their senses at the exact same time. They looked around at each other.

Ridley refused to make any eye contact whatsoever with anyone, but Lena was looking right at Annabeth, trying to appeal to her.

Annabeth understood. It would be as if Percy couldn't come to Camp Half-Blood and then was pushed out of New York. The state, the country… Casts were like wildfire and Lena was desperately looking for a way to extinguish this one before it burned her.

She looked at Percy. He'd followed her into Tartarus. Surely he could sympathise with Ethan and Lena. Percy and Annabeth had gods, Ethan Lena had casts- but deep down they were the same. Two kids, same age, who were just trying not to get pushed away from each other by forces of the universe out of their control. If someone could have pulled Percy and herself out of Tartarus, if someone could have stopped the gods from using them like chess pieces… She'd have liked them to. She'd have appreciated it very much.

"How far of a drive is Gatlin?" Percy said. "Because I don't travel by plane."

"Unless you don't mind riding Pegasi." Annabeth said.

Lena lunged across the circle and hugged her. She could do nothing but hold Lena tightly.

* * *

"Hey, Leo?" John asked.

"If this is about the conversation that you and Liv had- I'm just warning you, you don't even want me to _try_ giving you girl advice," Leo said.

"I don't need girl advice, but it is about something Liv told me." John asked. Leo sat down on a work table after flicking away a robotic ladybug the size of his fist. The automaton beeped angrily before scattering away.

"I was kind of wondering if you had any opposition to my hanging around here some more." John said.

"Like, around the forge?" Leo asked.

"Yeah. I know that I'm not in the family, but the others are heading back to Gatlin tomorrow and I just… I'd really like to stay here and learn what you guys do." John said.

"Sure," Leo said. "I don't have a problem with it."

"You don't?" John asked relieved.

"Nah," Leo said. "If you need a bunk, we'd be okay with that either. We aren't really picky around here. Our Dad's the good of building stuff basically- if you want to build, we'll let you in. He's pretty ugly and fraternises with Cyclops too, so we don't have protocols on species much."

John grinned. "Thanks man. It means a lot to me."

"No problem," Leo said. "Welcome to the wonderful world of belonging somewhere."

* * *

"Rid," Link said. She turned around from the canoe lake and faced him.

"Hey," he said grinning awkwardly, sitting down next to her. People had always told him that he was photogenic and suave since he'd turned into an Incubus, but he always felt stupid and awkward and dopey around Ridley.

His shoes were soaked the second he dropped his feet in the lake.

"Dumb," Ridley said nudging to them.

Link shrugged. "I don't care."

They were quiet for a while. A canoe was flipped by a few water nymphs –dryads or whatnot- with nasty attitudes.

"You know, when Lady Hestia showed us everything…" Link said. "She showed us our homes. She showed Percy's apartment, Ethan's house, Lena in Ravenwood Manor… But she showed you with me."

Ridley shot him a dark look.

"You can suck on a lollipop and give me dirty looks all you want, but that doesn't work on me." Link said. "I'm different and you know it, so you may as well explain yourself."

Ridley looked forwards. "I moved around a lot as a kid. I learned not to get attached to places, because places don't move. I learned that people were really what made things and places and events good. And so now… Now I don't see home as a building. I go for the people- like Lena's started to do with Ethan. And right now, for me, that's you, Link."

Link tried not to smile on the outside. Ridley was like a deer, he didn't want to startle her and scare her off. His hand wandered and he took hers.

"You know," he said. "That makes a lot of sense to me. You make a lot of sense when you talk and when you're honest. I know it's not in your nature, but can you try? If you try, I can try to listen even if that's not in my nature either. And what if we tried away from Lena and Macon and Ethan and everyone? What if we stayed right here for a while and worked on figuring out what was going on?"

Ridley looked at him with wide eyes, and Link thought that he'd crossed some kind of line. Scared her off like a deer who heard a branch cracking in the woods (except Link had kind of just chopped down a tree).

"I think I could learn to like that," she said. "Actually I think that I'd like that a lot."

And that was the first time that he kissed her at Camp.

It was pretty smooth if he did say so himself.

* * *

John took a deep breath before putting Liv's bookmark in the book she was reading. She took the cue, closed her novel and looked up.

"Hey," she said.

"Hey," he said. "I have something to tell you. Something big and really important. Please don't be mad at me."

Liv looked at him with caution bleeding into her eyes, but she nodded. He nearly chickened out, but managed to go on.

"I've decided that I want to stay at camp for a while," he said. "Work with Leo and Nyssa and them in the forges, hang out with Nico some more- he wants me to meet his little sister too. I know that you have to go back to Gatlin to continue training to be Keeper, and so we'll be apart but…"

"But we can send letters and call and there is such a thing as a car," Liv said putting a finger on her lips. She was smiling. "You really want to?"

"Yeah," John said. "I mean, I love you and I love everyone else but this feels… right. It's like Abraham didn't make me _that _much of a freak if I could fit in here. I like it at Camp."

Liv's smile split her face furthermore, her smile was brighter.

"Then I have something pretty big to tell you too," she said.

"Oh?" John asked.

"I decided to apply to NYU next year," Liv said with a smile.

John put his arms around her lips and kissed her.

* * *

Lena had never seen Uncle Macon more confused.

"Demigods?" He said as soon as they dismounted from the Pegasi they'd ridden to Gatlin. The flight had been a bit under four hours (of intense terror and kelting with Ethan for comfort and holding onto Annabeth for dear life).

"Yes sir, that'd be us." Percy said.

"I'd assumed that you were closer to the country's capital," Macon said shaking his head. "Had I known…"

"We're more centered around culture than politics," Annabeth said. She didn't even look surprised that Macon knew what was going on, as if she had experience with adults being little sneaks. "Don't mistake the Greeks with the Romans, that's the trick."

"Romans?" Ethan asked.

_There are Roman demigods by the way, it was a big thing last summer but apparently they come for Friday night Capture-the-flag now. _Lena kelted.

"Never mind," Ethan said.

"Okay," Percy said. "First we'd need a place to keep the Pegasi out of sight. They hate being called horses. Is there one, or..?"

"Greenbrier Estate has a lot of space," Lena said. "And it's not too far from where we're heading."

"Yeah, that's another thing." Annabeth said. "Where _are _we heading, and what do you want us to do once we're there?"

* * *

They had to leave Ethan behind. He was staying as close to Ravenwood as he could, but that was still a few miles away.

Percy's stomach felt upset and he was edgy as ever. Gatlin was small, cozy, prone to supernatural activity and unfamiliar. If something would go wrong… Well, his right hand was shoved in his pocket where Riptide waited. Annabeth kept a hand on her knife.

Lena had explained to Macon where the other four were.

"Praise Chiron and his never-ending hospitality," Macon said.

Percy wasn't even surprised that Chiron and Macon knew each other. He was pretty sure that Chiron knew the president.

When they got to the cemetery where Genevieve Katherine Ducchanes had been buried, a brown-hooded figure was waiting for them.

"Lady Hestia," Annabeth bowed recognising her immediately. Percy followed suit.

She smiled. "I knew that you two would pull through. You can never quite resist a good cause." They sat down around the tombstone and Macon explained to them what was going to happen, based on his extensive research.

"Alright," Macon said. "Here's what's going to have to happen. Annabeth, you need to stop being Annabeth for a few minutes. You need to be able to connect with your past lives, Genevieve Ducchanes in this case, and tap into her spectrum of powers and emotions. When you come back to us, you can remove the cast on Ravenwood Manor- which I myself will replace at a later date. Now, seeing as you are powerless…"

"Excuse me?" Annabeth asked crossing her arms.

Macon bowed his head, acknowledging his political mistake. He tried again; "Seeing as you are devoid of Caster powers, Lena and I will have to fuel you."

He held out his hands. Lena took one, Hestia took the other. Percy held hands with Hestia and Annabeth, who also held Lena's.

He wished that he could kelt like Ethan and Lena did. _Annabeth, are you okay? Annabeth are you still sure you want to do this? Annabeth, are you feeling okay? _

"That seems reasonable," Annabeth said stoically.

"Perfect," Macon said sitting down.

"I really appreciate what you're doing," Lena said. "And if Ethan were here, he'd say so too."

Annabeth nodded and closed her eyes. Percy's hands grew warm and he felt as if he had pins and needles. Was this what having magic felt like?

Macon was chanting in Latin. Percy didn't even open the translator app in his brain, he just watched over Annabeth.

Her eyes opened. They weren't grey anymore, they are shining gold and green and black spirals.

"Soul of a million lives, soul of a million pains, will you show us the one you speak?" Macon said.

"Annabeth, if you can see where Genevieve is say yes," Lena said quietly in normal person speak.

"Yes," Annabeth said in a breath.

"Excellent," Macon said. "Let her take over. Stop thinking, try to fall asleep. That's it..."

Annabeth's breathing was slowing down, becoming more peaceful. Percy was edgy, but Macon, Hestia and Lena sounded confident and calm. Macon repeated his words: "Soul of a million lives, soul of a million pains, will you show us Genevieve Ducchanes?"

"Yes," Annabeth repeated. A flash of bright light had Percy squinting for a second before he saw a woman floating above Annabeth, her feet sprouting from his girlfriend's shoulder blades. She was the same woman as in Rachel's painting, except she was drained of colour and light like an old photograph. Percy got chills. He _hated _ghosts.

"Genevieve Ducchanes, your cast is strong on this land." Macon said gravely. Annabeth's hand was shaking inside of Percy's.

"Genevieve Ducchanes, undo your Cast and your lineage will be forever grateful," Macon said. "Genevieve Ducchanes, we ask for one word from your lips before we release you to the afterlife."

The ghost of Genevieve didn't do anything, she merely looked down at them. Annabeth's hand was trembling. She wasn't a Caster, she wasn't magic- not even her powers were magic. She wasn't meant for this. She was swimming against the tide here.

"Macon," Percy said. "Macon, she can't do this."

"She can theoretically, she's the reincarnation of Genevieve." Hestia said quietly.

"Macon, listen to me, I_ know_ her." Percy said shaking his hand.

Macon nodded, registering and taking Percy seriously. It shocked him a bit; he wasn't used to that on behalf of powerful people.

"It's too late," Macon said. "Genevieve knows that she's been summoned from the past. Hundreds of particles were brought back from stars and dust to recreate her ghost. She was brought back and she will not go back into oblivion until she has done her part."

"No, it can't be too late, Genevieve's been dead and gone for hundreds of years, she can be gone for a couple more seconds." Percy insisted. "Macon, bring her back."

"I have explained to you, Percy…"

"He is telling the truth, Perseus." Hestia reassured him calmly.

"Well then send me up with her," Percy demanded.

Macon looked at Lena and Hestia quickly. They nodded once, he said a word to Percy. His hands were buzzing completely with pins and needles now.

Ten seconds later, Percy was out of it.

* * *

Lena watched in shock.

A ghost had emerged from Percy as well, one wearing a grey uniform, one that Lena recognised from a dusty old portrait she'd seen. She'd been expecting a Gothic representation of Percy to show up, but no: it was Ethan Carter Wate standing there.

The ghost spun towards Genevieve and held out his hand. Genevieve took it and suddenly Lena understood something crucial. _The antidote springs from the poison._

Genevieve wasn't the poison, nor was her cast. Protective charms were actually considered really good. It was the reason for it that was bad, the reason that the Wate lineage was cursed, the reason that the spell had gone as sour as its Caster.

Ethan. Ethan, the man that Genevieve loved.

Living now as Percy, the one Annabeth had gone to hell and back with.

Once Ethan Carter held Genevieve's hand she raised her hand and started chanting. Following Macon's lead, Lena echoed the words until the ghosts shrunk back into Percy and Annabeth and the two had to catch each other to avoid toppling over.

_Lena? _She heard echoing through her skull. _Lena? L?_

She smiled.

_I hear you, Ethan. I hear you!_

* * *

**Epilogue**

_June_

A branch cracked and Ethan spun around madly, raising his bow.

"Relax," someone hissed. Annabeth took off her baseball cap and appeared. She wasn't wearing any armour; it supposedly made her stealthier. Besides, she wasn't going on the enemy's side of the creek this game, she was just the coordinator of one of her most intricate plans yet. Decoys, distractions, false rumours leaked to the enemy- she was going all out.

"Oh, it's you." Ethan said.

"Of course it's me," Annabeth said. "Listen: Percy's been in and out of enemy territory with the Stolls and he's located the flag. It's hidden in the roots of that big oak, you know the one. We're sending in the automatons, and the archers are right after it in the Hydra Manoeuver. Two waves of attackers, bulk and surprise followed by stealthy warriors in the trees: they won't have a chance to recover while John and Link you-know-what to the flag."

Annabeth had kept the powers of Incubus secret for the entire year, particularly riping, thus trusting her whole cabin with the task of silence. She'd been able to jungle privileges and make offers well enough to keep the Hephaestus cabin as well as Rachel on her team at all times, and only the Athena Cabin knew just how they did it exactly. The point of the automatons was Annabeth hoping that in the panic, the other side wouldn't notice _how _the flag had been brought back. The secrecy was crucial, because if bigger offers were made to the Hephaestus cabin than their own, Annabeth was pretty sure that they'd switch and her Dream Team would fall apart. Hell, she'd even kept the Aphrodite Cabin close to keep Ridley from spilling the beans.

Ethan had to admire her wits and efforts on this. Annabeth was terrifying, but so incredibly cool at the same time.

"So what's my job?" Ethan asked again.

"Report to the archer's rendez-vous point," Annabeth said. "Do I have to walk you there?"

Ethan was pretty sure that Annabeth, being the brains of the operation, had other places to be.

"No, I'm alright." Ethan said.

Annabeth winked, put her hat back on- and God knew what she'd gone off to do after that.

That's when Ethan realised that he was lost. No matter how many times he'd visited Camp since his first time over, last summer, he still didn't know the woods anywhere near well. According to the campers, that was normal- not even Annabeth knew them that well.

Still, all those visits were fun. Link and Ridley were always around –under the pretext to Mrs. Lincoln that Link had gotten a scholarship for his music. John was hanging out in the forges all the time, and so he'd brightened up a bit, _and _had found himself an apprenticeship as a mechanic with a Roman legacy of Vulcan out in the city. He said that watching Link and Ridley's decent into romance was disgusting, so they were all technically lucky that it never lasted more than two weeks before they were on the off-again stage of things. Apparently the Aphrodite Cabin had helped Ridley on that front a lot, and she and Piper were getting along better (which didn't mean much, but still).

Every time he was around, Ethan stayed with Rachel who made him watch old movies like Forrest Gump, Gone with the Wind, Casablanca or anything that Charlie Chaplin was in late at night, ate his meals with Percy, Link and Rachel, got a bit better at archery which he practised in his backyard back in Gatlin. He'd come over for Christmas, Thanksgiving, Easter and on a few long weekends. Link usually ripped with him, or Percy came over with extra Pegasi. Recently, Rachel had given Ethan (as a Wayward) a trick so that he could navigate the _lunae libri _like she'd been able to navigate the labyrinth before it was destroyed a few years ago. One way or another, they always got around.

He wouldn't have to do that anymore though. He'd managed to get into NYU, in a journalism program. He'd study with Liv, Percy and Annabeth who were studying respectively in English literature, biology and architecture. Now he could basically spend his weekends at Camp, which he was planning on doing, if he wanted to. He'd missed his best friend after a year apart and wasn't anxious to repeat the experience.

Lena hadn't really made any big plans for what she'd wanted to do, so she was just following their group to New York. Who knew what would happen from there- it _was _New York, after all. Strange twists of fate happened in the Big Apple, and Ethan assumed that it was even more so when two Caster girls were hanging around together.

Well, two Casters and a bunch of demigods…


End file.
